Open Access

ARTICLE

Comparison of Apigenin, Quercetin and Kaempferol Accumulation and Total Flavonoid Content in Leaves, Embryogenic Cultures and Cell Suspension Cultures of Parsley (Petroselinum crispum)

by Laura Isabel Arias-Rodríguez¹, Martha Alicia Rodríguez-Mendiola^2,*, Carlos Arias-Castro^2,*, Federico Antonio Gutiérrez Miceli¹, Diana Reséndez Pérez³, María Celina Luján Hidalgo¹, Juan José Villalobos Maldonado¹, Norma Alejandra Mancilla Margalli²

1 Analytical Laboratory, National Technological Institute of Mexico, Tuxtla Gutierrez Campus, Tuxtla Gutierrez, Mexico
2 Plant Biotechnology Laboratory, Instrumental Analysis Laboratory, Plant Biochemistry Laboratory, National Technological Institute of Mexico, Tlajomulco de Zuniga, Mexico
3 Department of Cellular Biology and Genetics, Faculty of Biological Sciences, Autonomous University of Nuevo Leon, San Nicolas de los Garza, Mexico

* Corresponding Authors: Martha Alicia Rodríguez-Mendiola. Email: ; Carlos Arias-Castro. Email:

(This article belongs to the Special Issue: Biotechnology of Plant Secondary Metabolites)

Phyton-International Journal of Experimental Botany 2023, 92(10), 2807-2823. https://doi.org/10.32604/phyton.2023.030396

Received 04 April 2023; Accepted 25 June 2023; Issue published 15 September 2023

Abstract

In recent years, there has been a growing interest in exploring alternative treatments for bone defects. Bone tissue engineering has turned its attention to plant extracts containing osteogenic flavonoids as potential promoters of bone regeneration. In our study, we specifically investigated the extract of Petroselinum crispum, a plant known for its abundance of osteogenic flavonoids such as apigenin, quercetin, and kaempferol. Our objective was to compare the total flavonoid content (TFC) and their accumulation in different sources. We obtained hydrolyzed aqueous extracts from the leaves of parsley plants (grown for 12 weeks in the field), weekly embryogenic cultures, and suspension cell cultures. The TFC, measured in mg quercetin equivalent per gram of dry weight (QE mg/g dw), was found to be 53.81 ± 0.97 for 52 g dw of leaves (1 kg plant fw), 31.10 ± 1.52 for 420 g dw of embryogenic cultures, and 11.80 ± 0.76 for 210 g dw of cell suspensions. Notably, only the leaves and embryogenic cultures showed significant accumulation of osteogenic flavonoids, with apigenin levels of 1.8 ± 0.3 and 0.32 ± 0.02 mg/g dw, and kaempferol levels of 1.0 ± 0.18 and 0.2 ± 0.01 mg/g dw, respectively. Our findings indicate that embryogenic cultures have the potential to produce up to 40% more apigenin in 12 weeks compared to 1 kg of parsley plant, thanks to their superior biomass reproductive competence. These results present a promising biotechnological approach for generating extracts enriched with bioactive compounds, which can be further utilized in in vitro osteogenic testing.

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